adventures in toddler-raising

While I was neglecting Anne today, and by neglecting I mean cooking dinner, she took the cup we use to wash her hair out of the tub and used it to empty all the water out of the toilet onto the bathroom floor. Yes, we left the lid open, and, yes, thank goodness, we had flushed. I went in and caught her doing it and she looked GUILTY. I took her clothes off to put her in the bath before drying the floor, and she slipped and fell in her puddle and hit her head on the tile. She started screaming so I picked her up but apparently the fall scared the #%$* out of her. This is a family blog, but let's just say my shirt was soaked. All in a day's work! HA!!! Love this mini girl..... :)

marathon man

Who needs the Olympics (and I love the Olympics) when I have inspiration in my own home?!

Go Chris! His goal was to break 4 hours on his first marathon, and he ran 4:00:17. My hero :)

We had fans, a darling mini girl in pink, and a really tired but really awesome dad:

makeover!

Yesterday and today I did two things I have not done since Annie was born: painted my fingernails and straightened my hair. (slight exaggeration: I have painted clear since Annie was born and one time the hairdresser straightened for me but still.....) some self portraits (do you like the dark nails?):

Chris keeps asking me why I did this. I want to feel pretty, thank you very much.

I think I need a new camera. It is impossible to not get one shot of such an adorable mini girl (and she is a cutie). Annie today:

and a little video

I can't remember of this is cute, but I feel like I have to post all videos because I don't know what else to do with them. This is from November/December, I think.

and some pics

um, I have no good pics. None. She is camera-shy and turns her face. I am nowhere near fully blaming the subject; I am a crappy photgrapher.

Awesome hat Grammie knit for her:

Putting her friends to bed (facing them down), then laying down herself:

She looked absolutely adorable on V-day, which I am sure you can tell:

hanging out on the counter on Saturday morning while Mom makes pancakes:

you can't do it all

If this week has taught me anything, it is that you (the figurative you meaning all mothers, including Heidi Klum and Angelina and all others who seem to have everything together) truly cannot have it all. Most days, I think I do. And I'm right. But I have (1) a husband whose hours are really great who works partly from home; (2) lots of family help, without which I would be lost; (3) a relatively flexible job and a one-mile commute; and, most importantly, (4) a pretty easy little girl, of whom I am just proud to death. This feeling of pride is rather new, actually, especially considering all her accomplishments: walking, talking, eating, smiling....

Those accomplishments, certainly huge, have been more inevitable achievements than sources of pride for me. She was going to walk, crawl, and feed herself. She was not necessarily, however, going to be a darling little girl at the hospital for 7 hours, half the time hooked up to and IV. Other non-inevitable wonders: she is pleasant every single morning, she is a joy at school and gets a great report every day, she is friendly and sweet and just a good mini-friend to have around for company. Her progress amazes me daily: talking nonstop, using her silverware almost all the time, counting, dancing, spinning, sliding. Some nice recent moments:

• always asking where everyone is. She'll look at me, raise her hands up, squint her eyes, shrug her shoulders, and ask, "Nana?"
• sees the pictures of Bert in her Sesame Street book and calls him "Pops." HA!
• A long time ago we tried to teach her "peace," as in, hold up your two fingers and say "peace." It didn't really take at the time, but now it seems that it has. If you hold up your fingers to count, she'll say, "one, peace, three, peace, five...." Apparently four is double-peace.
• lots of funny little words, "anya" for "orange," "doo doo" for "toby" (the toby I do not get because she can say all the sounds of his name)
• so creative and imaginative... putting all her friends down for naps and reading them a book, fake eating and drinking out of her tea set, constantly rearranging her furniture, putting on some music when she is ready to dance

Anyway, I rambled past my original point. I'm tired. And lucky. This week has been like having a newborn again. I have been up half the night, carrying Annie everywhere, picking up puke, worrying. Imagine if I didn't have an Annie and I had someone more difficult. What if I were doing this all myself? It is truly amazing what mothers accomplish every day and I thank Annie for putting everything back into perspective for me this week. sorry for the sap and the ramble.

spring? spring? spring?

This winter is killing me. It is not that the weather has been horrible overall. The averages have been averages, but we usually get a few nice, 70+ days. This is Florida, after all. But this winter is brutal and my soul is crying out for some warmth.

So, on to the important stuff. Annie has been sick, sick, sick this week. She finally landed in the ER when her temperature topped 106. She's peacefully and cool-ly sleeping now, and I think we are mostly over it. Here is the poor thing in the hospital (pre-IV with her friends Baby and Sherm):

She seemed to be feeling better for a little while yesterday and had time for a tea party.

quickie update on the last four months

a sad trip to Rockport to say goodbye to my Grandpa.

A quiet and thankful Thanksgiving.

A hectic, happy, very merry but pictureless Christmas.

Here's to a great 2010.